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AN ADDRESS 

DELIVHRUD Ar IliU AUDlToKlUM, IH )K TLANU, MAINU, ON THE 

ELEVENTH ANNUAL BANQUET 




LINCOLN CLUB, 

TUESDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 12, 1901 

IN OBSERVANCE OF THE NINETY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY 
OF THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



ERASTUS EUGENE HOLT, A. M., M. D. 
roUri.ANl*: 

M.\i;K^ ruiNTiNi; ii'Mm:. 

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.8 



REPRINT FROM THE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE. 



Gift 
Author 
(Perjon) 

tS My '08 



Address of Dr. E. E. Holt. 

Mr. Prei^'hhiit, M,')ii/>rrii <>t' f/ir Li,t,;,l„ Clnh, ,tii<l 
Fellow Citizens : 

All "illnsioir" which appcMiHMl to Al)rnli;nii Liiicdlii 
has never hct'ii exphiiiu-d upon latioiial grounds, so 
far as my ol)servations ^^o. 

J. S. ('. Al)bott, the liistorian. cites a (juotation as 
comint,' from President Lincoln, in wliieh tlie time 
of this 'Mllusion"' is t^nveu as oceurrint;- just after 
his nomination at Chieat^o, l)Ut .1. <i. lloUand. the 
historian, (juotcs from an article which apjicarcd in 
Harper's Magazine for .Inly. 1st;,"), wiilten Ity .lohn 
Hay, one of his private secretaries, ami iii»\\ Secrt-tary 
of State, placing; the time just after his tirst eleetion. 
In answer to my letter stating these facts, the Seere- 
taiv of State wi-ites me that Noah llrooks of (astine. 
Maine, at oiu- time a privati' seeretary of Tresideiit 
Lincoln, is the authoiity for this statement. Mi'. 
IJrooks is out of the country, so his statement, at the 
present lime as to the time of its occurrence, caiuiot 



be given. According to the latter authority, Presi- 
dent Lincohi is reported to have said : 

"It was just after my election in 1860, when the 
news had been coming in thick and fast all day, and 
there had been a great 'hurrah boys !' so that I was 
well tired out and went home to rest, throwing my- 
self upon a lounge in my chamber. Opposite to 
where I lay, was a bureau with a swinging glass upon 
it ; and looking into that glass, I saw myself reflected 
nearly at full length ; but my face, I noticed, had 
two separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose 
of one being about three inches from the tip of the 
other. 1 was a little bothered, perhaps startled, and 
got up and looked in the- glass, but the illusion van- 
ished. On lying down again, 1 saw it a second time, 
plainer, if possible, than before, and then I noticed 
that one of the faces was a little paler — say five 
shades — than the other. I got up and the thing 
melted away, and I went off, and, in the excitement 
of the hour forgot all about it, — nearly, but not quite, 
for the thing would once in a while come up, and 
give me a little pang as though something uncom- 
fortable had happened. When I went home, I told 
my wife about it, and a few days after I tried the 
experiment again, when, sure enough, the thing came 



hack Miraiii : luit I ii.-v.t su.-.To<lt'.l in l.rin-in.i: tl"" 
ghost l);u-U :itt.T that, th-m-l. I '.nc- tricl v. -it in- 
(lustii..nsly I.. sh..\v it to my wifi', wli" w;is worri.-d 

ahnllt it sninrwhllt. Shf tlu.Ught it WilS M siuMi' thilt 

I was to 1k' ("U'ctr.l t.. a second tmn of oIVkt, ainl 
that till' i)aUMifSs of ..iM' of thr fares was an omen 
that I should not sei' iiff throu<;li the hist term." 

Now this 'Mlhtsion" like others that haunt p.-oph-, 
as this did Al.raliam Lincoln, can l.r cxj.laim'd upon 
rational o-ronn.ls when all tlu- facts arc kn..wn and 
rightly intcrprcttMl. 

With the rapiiUy chan-in<,' scenes in political 
events constantly presenting themselves for his con- 
sideration and action, after he was nominated and 
elected I'residcnt, it seems cruel that he slu.uld 
have ha<l the annoyance from this -illusion" a.hled 
to his hurdens, when it could have hcen explaim-.l 
upon rational -rounds and set his mind at rest. 

It was the l)cgining of the m(»st momentous time in 
the history of this rcpui.li.' since its foun.lation, and 
Ahraham Lincoln was the central li-ure to whom all 
loyal eyes were turnc.l as a pilot to v:n\i\v the Ship 
of State throtigh tlu' storm that was sure to come. 

After i.artieipating in the joyful scen.'s that signal- 
ized his sn.-cess in the campaign, .Mr. Lincoln, said: 



6 

"There is a little woman who has some interest in 
this matter," and thither he wended his way to meet 
the companion of his life who was to participate in 
his fnture eventful career. 

After breaking the news to her, he retired to his 
chamber to obtain some needed rest from the work 
and excitement connected with the campaign in 
which he had been elected President of the United 
States. 

As he lay there upon the couch, every muscle 
became relaxed as never before. Little did he dream 
of the years of weary toil, care, and anxiety that 
was to be his lot and the tragic death that was to 
take him off in the zenith of his career, a career that 
has fixed upon him the eyes of the whole civilized 
world, and has given him a place in the affections of 
tlie American people, unsurpassed in the history of 
this republic. In this relaxed condition, in a pen- 
sive mood, and in an effort to recuperate the energies 
of a wearied mind, his eyes fell upon the mirror in 
which he could see himself at full length, reclining 
upon the couch. All the muscles that direct control, 
and keep the two eyes together were relaxed ; the 
eyes were allowed to separate, and each eye saw a 
separate and distinct image by itself. The relaxa- 



tioii was so coni|ilct(', for tlic liiiic Ix'iiii^-. lliat tlu; 
two eyes were iiui Itiouglit toqether, as is usual liy 
the aeliou of the couvert^MUL,' uiusch-s, heiu-e the 
fouuterpart [H't'sentuient of himself. IIi; wouM liavo 
seen twi) iniat^es of everythiuL,^ else had he looked 
for tliem, hut he was s(j startled hy the ghostly 
appeanuiee that he felt a "little pang as though some- 
tliing uncomfortable had happened," and obtained but 
little rest. What a solace to his weared mind it 
would have been, if some one could have e.\[)lained 
this "illusioiT' upon lalioual grounds. 

We see by his own statement that it was destined 
to haunt him. for long after it had taken place, he 
says he "tried ver}- industriously to show it" to 
Mrs. Lincoln, but without result. The failure of 
attemi»ts to reproduce this "illusion" undoubtedly 
disturbed him still more, and added not a little to his 
troubled mind. 

The reason why this "illusion"' did not ap[)ear again, 
notwitlistaiidiug the constantly increasing cares and 
responsiliilities thrust upon liim, was because his 
nervous S3stem hail bceome accustometl to the strain 
put \i\nm it, and he had recuperating powers enough 
to sustain the eyes in their normal lelations to eaidi 
other. 



This incident of his life made an impression that 
never left me, especially, after he fell bj the hand of 
the assassin, thus verifying the prediction put upon 
it b}^ Mrs. Lincoln. 

I never questioned, however, but that a rational 
explanation would be found for this "illusion," and 
when it came after waiting more than fifteen years, 
during which time I had come to consider constantly 
the conditions which give rise to such troubles, I felt 
what a oreat relief it would have been to Presi- 
dent Lincoln, had the explanation been made to him 
at that time. 

The factors, which enter into the solution of this 
problem of double vision, have to be considered in 
the elucidation of the causes that produce weak eyes, 
headaches, and other various nervous disturbances. 
Muscular and mental fatigue often produce distur- 
bances in the function of seeing, and visions are 
projected which are real to the person thus affected, 
and lead him to interpret them for good or evil. 

Dr. Edward H. Clark, one of the renowned phy- 
sicians of New England, during his last illness, while 
he was suffering constantly from a fatal disease, wrote 
a book on visions, dividing false visions, according 
to causes, into those due to disturbances of the brain, 





those tint.' tt) tlistiuliauffs tif tlic t-yt-s. anil tlinsf iluu 
to clisluil);inft's t)l" tlif i;iys of lit,''lit l)i't't)if tlit'V I'litcr 
the eyt's. I'lcsidt-iit Lim-oln's "•illiisitin" was iliu.' to 
a disturhiim-t.' of tlu' cyi's, a c()nj{)k'te relaxation of the 
muscles that kee[) the two eyes together an<l enahle 
them, in the normal state, to see everything single. 

This was a tenijittrary et)niliti<»n due to the fatigue 
frtini the intense work and cxfilcint-nt whith had 
been cfoinL'' t)n from the time t)f his nt»inination until 
after his elettit)n as President of the United States. 

There are eoinlitions, lit)wever, whith are horn 
with the eyes, tiiat may he developed enough hy over- 
using them to produce headaches, and other mani- 
festations of disorders of the nervous system, whieh 
may be accompanied with double vision. \\y the 
advancements in mt)dern t)[)hlhalmologv. a large 
number of these cases can be relieved whith were 
ft)rmerly considered to be ineurable. 

Mf. Lineoln was before ami after his iitmiination 
for the I'l'csiileney, under a great physical anti mental 
strain, which increased until his election in Novt-m- 
ber, when it continueil constantly to go on until his 
death in A[)ril, LSI)."). The wt)ntler is, that he did 
not have repeated "illusi«)ns" due to derangements 
of till' nervous system frt)m perft)rniing the great 



10 

amount of work tlu'ust upon him, and from the cares 
and responsibilities in consequence of the ''irrepres- 
sible conflict" which burst forth into one of the 
bloodiest wars that the world has ever witnessed. 

It may be said, however, that every incident in 
one's life has some value when philosophically con- 
sidered, and the evil omen assigned to this "illusion" 
by Mrs. Lincoln may have had its value in making 
the President more cautious of himself than he 
otherwise would have been had it not occurred, and 
of preventing his death earlier in his career before 
he had performed services to his country unsurpassed 
by any individual in the history of this republic. 

Abraham Lincoln was not only a good, but he was 
a brave man. To advocate the principles which 
he did was to jeapordize his life. Listen to what 
he said in a speech against the extension of slavery 
before he was nominated for the presidency : tall, 
erect, earnest, his eyes flashing with animation, his 
countenance wrapped in intense emotion as he 
poured forth his eloquence against the crime of a 
liberty loving people ; sentiments similar to those 
of his "lost speech" which entranced the reporters 
and captivated his audience, making him the ac- 
knowledged leader of leaders against the extension 



11 

of slavery into tlin Ircf soil of Kansas and Nt'hraska : 
"Broken l)y it, I, loo, may Ix' ; how to it, I never 
will. Tilt' |ii'ol>al)ility that we may fail in the 
struggle oUL^ht not to deU'r us from tlu- sui)j»orl of a 
cause which 1 deem to he just ; and it shall not 
deter un\ If ever I feel the soul within me elevate 
and expand to those dimensions not wholly unworthy 
of the Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate 
the cause of my country, deserted hy all the world 
besides, and I, standing u[) holdly and alone, and 
hurling defiance at her victorious oppressor. Here, 
without contemplating consequences, before high 
Heaven, and in the face of the world, I swear eternal 
fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of all the 
land of my life, my liberty and my love." 

Within a month after his election, the Southern 
states began to secede from the Union, and declared 
themselves free sovereign and independent stiites. 

The air was filled with rumors that the President 
woulil be assassinated on liis journey to Washington, 
yet he exposed himself in many cities, and only 
after it had been shown to him that attempts had 
been made to throw the train off of the track, 
and i)low it to pieces, did he heed an<l take an 
earlier nitdit train, through Baltimore, in onler to 



12 

arrive in Washington in safety. There is no doubt 
that this "illusion" had some influence in decid- 
ing him to take this train to Washington, and thus 
his invaluable services were spared to the country. 

The week of his first inaug-uration was one of 
greatest peril and anxiety to the nation, and was 
only exceeded by the fear and consternation that 
followed his second inauguration, when the exten- 
sive plot to assassinate all the leading officers of the 
Government and of the Army was revealed, but 
which failed in every instance except that of the 
best beloved of all presidents, Abraham Lincoln. 

General Scott, in his autobiography, says : "The 
inauguration of President Lincoln, was perhaps the 
most critical and hazardous event with which I 
have ever been connected. In the preceding two 
months I had received more than fifty letters, many 
from points distant from each other, some earnestly 
dissuading me from being present at the event, and 
others distinctly threatening assassination if, 1 dared 
to protect the ceremony by military forces." 

Strange looking men thronged the streets, armed 
for the most desperate deeds, and there were sharp- 
shooters, who, from a distance, could fire a bullet 
into his heart, but he stood before the many thou- 



13 

.sands and dtdivcrt'*! Ids most iMii)rcssi\X' inaui,Miral 
address in a (dear, pt'netraling voicu tliat was licard 
1)V the niultitndi' iKd'ore Idni. 

lvi'turnin_f( to tin- White House, lie was asked if lie 
felt anv alaiin thuini,^ the ceremony, and his rei)ly 
was that he had often experienced greater fear in 
speaking to a dozen Western men on the subject of 
temperance. 

This was hravery of the highest type, for he was 
a conspicuous figure in any assembly, and coidd 
easily be made a sure target for the assassin. Con- 
trary to his own estimate of himself, he was a most 
courageous man ; yet the interpretation by Mrs, 
Lincoln of this •nllusion" was never erased from his 
mind: nevertheless he regarded it philosophically, 
and went about unaccompanied, exposing himself, a.s 
it seemed to those who were near and dear to him, 
in a most reckless manner. 

Once when he was out riding a horse, with only one 
acconipunving him, at near twilight, he had a bullet 
pass through the top of his tall hat. He begged his 
comiianion to say nothing about it, as it wouhl 
create alarm in his family, and among his friends. 

\Vc see him entering Kichmond, unaccompanied 
bv anv one except his little boy "Tad" : the city 



14 

swarming with desperate men, and enveloped in 
flames from the torch of the retreating foe. 

Abraham Lincoln appealed more forcibly to the 
sympathies of more American youths than any man 
that ever graced the presidential chair. 

His early life was one of hardship and privations. 
It created a bond of sympathy for the "plain people" 
which could only have been developed under such 
circumstances into that bond of love for them which 
ever manifested itself in his daily life. 

As a boy in a country store, I made two scrap 
books ; in one I collected an account of the things 
which he did and said and the good things said about 
him, while in the other I put what his opponents said 
about him. In the latter book, I remember distinctly 
a sentence from the "silver tongued orator of the 
Kennebec," in which speaking of Mr. Lincoln's farne^ 
he said "it would shine and stink, and stink and 
shine like a rotten mackerel by moonlight." But 
those days have gone forever, and we doubt not if 
the same person wei'e living today, he would use his 
eloquence to praise Abraham Lincoln as much as he 
did to condemn him then. 

Abraham Lincoln was remarkable for his fund of 
anecdotes and stories which were so simple that a 



1.*. 

child coiiM uiiilfist;iii<l tliciii. I'licv srivcW as a 
safety valve to his ovciuoikfd luaiii, and also to 
illusti'iitc points and conditions Itcllcj- than anv 
anioiinl of I'xplaiiation, and theiefoie contained a 
resistless aifjninent in the most condensed form pos- 
sible. This was one of the most conspicuons (uiali- 
ties which created snch a close sympathy between 
him and ihc American youth of his time, for vouno- 
I)eople like stories, and can l)ecome interesteil in a 
subject when it is made clear l)y a j^rood stors. 

His reply after he had listcnc(I patiently to a 
delegation from the West, who had come with hitter 
complaints against the Administration, was charac- 
teristic of the man. It created a good feeling and 
the}' went away satislicd. He said: — 

"(rentlemen, sup|»ose all the property von were 
worth was in gold, and you had jmt it into the hands 
of lilondin to carry across the Niagara llivcr on a 
rope, would you shake the cable, or keep shouting 
(»ut to him, 'I'dondin, stand up a little straighter; 
lUondin st()o[) a little more ; go a little faster: h-an 
a little more to the North; lean a little more to the 
South'.' No: you Would hold your breath as well 
as your tongue, and keep youi- hands otY until he 
was safe over. The (iovernmeiit are carrviu"- aji 



16 

immense weight, untold treasures are in their liands. 
They are doing the very best they can. Don't 
badger them. Keep silence and we'll get you safely 
across." 

Every child that could read understood perfectly 
well what he would do with Jefferson Davis, when 
the Southern Confederacy was crumbling into ruins, 
and this question was asked him and he replied : 
"There was a boy in Springfield who bought a coon, 
which, after the novelty wore off, became a great 
nuisance. 

He was one day leading him through the streets, 
and had his hands full to keep clear of the little vixen 
who had torn his clothes half off of him. At length, 
he sat down on the curbstone completely fagged out. 
A man passing, was stopped by the disconsolate 
appearance and asked the matter, 'Oh,' was the 
reply, 'the coon is such a trouble to me ! ' 'Why 
don't 3'ou get rid of it, then, said the gentleman. 
'Hush ! ' said the boy, 'Don't you see he is gnawing 
his rope off? I am going to let him do it; and then 
I will go home and tell the folks that he got away 
from me" 

Thiidv of the President of the United States — the 
foremost country of the world — telling a coon story 



17 

to illustrate Ih'W Ik- \v..u1.1 <i<al with on.- of llu; in..st 
sc'iioiis, .-onii.K'X, and (•..lui.li.at.'.j .,u.-sti(.ns rver 
pivsc'utvd to man, and so siniplt- that a chiM could 
uiulei-stan.l just what he would dn. Is it any wonder 
that the youth of the r..uuliy ha-l su.di uidiinited 
sympathy for him '' 

His speeches and addresses have furnished material 
for declamations unsurpassed in excellence even by 
those of Daniel Webster, whose elo(iueut utterances 
entitled him to rank among the great orators of the 
worhl. 

Without c.nsultation, he wrote the Kman.d- 
pation Proclamation, which created intense exeite- 
ment and marked him still more conspicuously than 
ever for the iiand of the assassin ; yet, with the 
iulrrprctation of this -illusion" ever present in his 
mind, he still i)nt t.ff issuine- this doeumeiit whi.di 
was to be the "central act" of his administration 
-and the great event of the nineteenth century." 
Periiaps the most sublime occasion of his life, was 
when he presented this immortal document to his 
rabinet, aiul h.' prefaced this act by reading a c hapter 
from Artemus Wanl. Kvery American youth, north 
of the line of Mason and Dixie, who had read this 



18 

book, was brought at once into sympathy with him 
for diverting his mind with such frivolous drollery, 
for it was common ground upon which they could 
meet and more fully appreciate each other. 

At length, the Emancipation Proclamation was 
issued, and took effect as the noblest political 
document known to history. 

Four years of civil war were slowly coming to a 
close, and those who were opposed to the President 
and the war rallied in great strength, but Abraham 
Lincoln was again triumphantly elected President of 
the United States. His second inaugural address 
was characteristic of the man, for it was one of the 
noblest utterances that ever fell from the lips of man. 

Finally he began to see the fruits of his labors, 
and the end of the bloodiest war known in the 
history of the world. 

As he reluctantly consented to attend Ford's 
theatre on the evening of the 14th of April, 1865, 
his mind was preoccupied in an effort to devise a 
just method of reuniting his misguided countrymen 
in the bonds of the Union. As he sat there with his 
devoted family and friends in the peaceful repose of 
an admiring people, his mind diverted by the play 



11) 

fjoing on ix-foir liini, without a tlioiiL,'lit, pcrliajts, of 
the "illusion"' whose attiihuted evil ouicu was to i)u 
fulfilled, wlu'ii .Inhii Wilkes Bootli, the assassin, 
tired a hullet into his hraiii, and he was no more. 

We had heeii eelehiatiiiLi;' victories, ami, Hushed 
with the anliciiiatioii of a speedy ending of the war, 
and all were looking forward to a restoration of peace 
and a reunited country. 

But the fell destroyer ciune through the hand of 
the assassin, and plunged the nation into the deepest 
mourning ever known in the history of the world. 
Strong men all over the land met and wept like 
children. 

He had moi'e sincere, devoted mourners than any 
man that ever livetl, and he deserved them all l)y the 
universal sym[)alliy which he manifested for his 
fellow man in every deed of his life. 

It was certaiidy a singulai- coincident that .Mrs, 
Lincoln should have attrihuteil an evil omen ti> this 
"illusion,"' and should have {)redicted so nearly what 
actually eame to pass, hut in the light of a knowledge 
of the conditions which produced it in him. and 
which not iidVr(|uently pi'oduces sinulai- occurrences 
in otliers. wi- must regard it as one out of thousands 
which transpires as prcditted, and which therefore 



20 

must be considered only as an incident in liis 

unique life. 

A verse of a poem which was a great favorite with 

him, and which he frequently quoted, shows how his 

mind reverted to the thoughts therein expressed : 

"Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud? 
Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, 
He passeth from life to the rest of the grave." 

We doubt if there ever was created a being in 
this world, or in the worlds, if there be such, of the 
countless millions of fixed stars, whose sympathies 
for his fellow creatures were greater, or who per- 
formed his duties with a higher sense of honor and 
justice as a ruler, than Abraham Lincoln. 

His name and fame will last as long as the earth 
revolves upon its axis in sweeping through space 
around the eternal sun, and thither to the tomb of 
of our martyred President, will the people of the 
whole civilized world ever make their pilgrimage, to 
pay homage and reverence to Abraham Lincoln — ^tlie 
foremost man of the nineteenth century. 



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